Board Chair Letter |

Please find our November Board Chair Letter

Board Chair Letter 7 December 2012
On November 20th the Board of Trustees had its Board Meeting. The summary is as follows:
Aimee Cassulo, our diligent Board Secretary since August 2010 regrettably tendered her resignation due to her family’s relocation at the end of the year. Aimee, who is a nutritionist by profession, was one of the driving forces behind introducing the 4th bullet, to “lead healthy, active and balanced lives”, in ISB’s Mission. On behalf of the Board and the ISB community, I would like to thank Aimee for all her hard work and commitment to ISB and wish her family well as they return to the U.S. In the coming days the BOT will invite candidates to submit their applications for the vacant Board seat.
Teacher Contract Discussions
Contract discussions between the administration and teachers are held every three years. The results of the recent discussions were evaluated in the Executive Meeting. Salaries constitute about 80% of ISB’s total expenses, so a change in herein will have a direct impact on the school’s finances. Overall the offered package increased teacher’s salaries and benefits, while at the same time keeping the overall impact within the financial parameters set by the Board in the “financial matrix”. The teacher survey indicated the large majority of teachers was satisfied with the outcome of the contract discussions.
PTA Update
Heather Powell provided an overview of the PTA’s activities. One of the PTA’s many contributions to the school is providing grants for special projects. Community members are encouraged to contact the PTA if they need financial support for learning based initiatives. The ISB Cookbook is a wonderful initiative and a great gift idea, for example, for hosts of our IASAS traveling teams. Mrs. Powell also provided updates on other PTA activities such as parent meetings, Staff Appreciation Day, and International Day.
Teacher Organization (TO) Update
Stephen Romary gave an update on the TO’s activities. The purpose of the TO is to create and foster the best possible learning environment for students. The BOT recognizes that teachers are the single most important factor contributing to student learning, so having happy teachers is very important. The recent contract discussion was concluded satisfactorily although the TO would like to review and improve the process for future years. The TO was invited to present at BOT meetings on a more frequent basis so as to encourage understanding between teachers and the Board.
Athletics and Community Activities Office (CAO)
Andy Vaughan and Justin Wah presented the progress made in Athletics and CAO. The CAO was established last year as an effort by the school to help support independently run extracurricular activities. These activities are central to shaping the school and one of the reasons why parents choose ISB. The CAO is a central
information hub processing registrations, coordinating facilities etc. In its short existence the CAO has already been very successful, taking care of 1100 students and 2070 registrations so far this year. It’s likely that these numbers will expand as more extracurricular activities will work with the CAO the future.
ISB has had its most successful IASAS season yet. With this momentum, the Athletics department is working on better articulation of athletics between grades and ISB divisions. ISB’s age policy for BISAC events is moving away from organization by division and toward an age-based system for better alignment between student age and BISAC competitions. One of the areas where the Athletics department was asked to continue focusing on is the quality of coaches, as this appears to be an area needing improvement.
Furthermore, an update was given regarding the Panther Tennis Academy. The parent board selected Advantage Academy to be the ISB community tennis provider. Enrollment in the program has increased to over 90 players. The school and the CAO are working with the PTC for continued improvement of the program. The tennis community has expressed its wish for a stay on demolishing the existing tennis courts until the dynamics of the new courts, and future tennis enrollment numbers are better known. This petition is now being considered by the Business Committee.
Also for swimming the ties between the school and the Panther Swim Team are getting stronger. A newly created position of aquatics director has recently been advertised. Planned to start in August, the aquatics director will coach the swim teams and oversee management of the swim facilities and programs.
The After School Dance program is concerned that next year when the “old” dance rooms are no longer available there will be a shortage of facilities to accommodate the many school run dance programs and ASD. The CAO and administration is well aware of this situation, and it will be addressed in the coming months.
The Committee on Trustees (COT)
The COT has been working on categorizing Dr. Davies’ goals. The process to look for a replacement for Aimee Cassulo will be initiated shortly, with a plan to vote on potential candidates in the December meeting. The COT also proposes to do an exit interview with outgoing board members.
Futures Task Force
Good progress has been made with the Futures Exercise. The major themes have been distilled and the Leadership Team (LT) provided Dr. Davies with valuable input. There seems to be good synergy between stakeholders on the themes and the overall direction. This seems to validate the process so far as the FTF is working with ideas jointly drafted by all stakeholders. Actions on low hanging fruit in the areas of increased choice, e-learning, and program challenge/enrichment are already being taken. For example ISB is in the process of hiring a “Challenge and Enrichment Specialist” for the 2013/14 school year.
The Strategic Improvement and Learning Committee (SILC)
The SILC will has been focusing on the scholarship program and the vision for the arts. These programs are expected to be further developed during the next SILC meeting.
The Business Committee (BC)
The facility projects are going according to plan. At the time of writing this letter, the library and administration building have been opened, and the new sports facility is scheduled to be finished by mid-January 2013. The temporary container offices will remain on the parking lot for the time being, as they will provide relief while other projects are developed (e.g. the Invention Center) and departments re-located. The business committee will look into the traffic problem, especially during early morning drop-off where the traffic jam extends back to Samakee.
Thai Student Population
Twice a year the BOT is updated on the number of Thai students enrolled at ISB. There is a strong interest from Thai families to send their children to ISB, but the number of seats is limited with the aim of maintaining the international character of the school. In Elementary School 19.6% of the students is Thai. For grades 6 and 7 this is 21.3%, and for grades 8-12 the Thai student population is 24.2%. Overall the Thai student population is 22% (420 of 1908) of the student body, of which 100 are considered Thai expats.
Calendar 2013-2014
The Calendar for 2013-2014 was approved. This calendar is drafted with inputs from international community members and takes specific concerns as much as possible into consideration. The first day of school is 13 August 2013 and the final day is 6 June 2014.
Yours sincerely,
Best regards,
Marc de Vries
BOT Chair